Abstract
BackgroundTelehealth technology and related products can help to solve the problems associated with providing health care services and equal distribution of resources. However, in order to run a telehealth business successfully, key components and critical factors need to be taken into account. A telehealth business framework can provide a rich understanding of these components and factors. Therefore, the present study aimed to identify the key components and critical factors for developing a telehealth business framework from the experts’ perspectives.MethodsThe present qualitative study was conducted in 2020. The participants were 22 experts in the fields of medical informatics, health information management, telemedicine, telehealth, health entrepreneurship, health insurance, and digital health start-ups. In depth semi-structured interviews were conducted to collect data, and the data were analyzed using framework analysis.ResultsFour main themes derived from data analysis. The themes included key components for developing a telehealth business framework, success factors, challenges, and barriers of a telehealth business. Overall, the results indicated that the key components in a telehealth business framework included created value, key resources, key activities, key partners, licenses and permissions, product pricing, revenue, marketing, supporting services, and getting feedback from customers. Although receiving support from different individuals and organizations as well as economic benefits of telehealth services may consider as success factors, there are a number of challenges and barriers which should be taken into account. Otherwise, these factors may hinder the success of a telehealth business.ConclusionsThe development of a telehealth business framework might be an important step towards developing a more complete business plan, facilitating the commercialization of telehealth products, and providing a solution for product sustainability in a competitive market. In the current study, the key components and critical factors for developing a telehealth business framework were identified; however, further research is needed to explore how these components and factors can be helpful in developing business plans and running a successful telehealth business.
Highlights
It is more than a decade that the advancement of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) has been used to promote the quality and speed of health care services in the form of telehealth and other health care technologies
A variety of business models and plans are used in telehealth industry [11], it seems that providing a telehealth business framework with welldefined components can help the business managers to focus on the most important issues and increase the chance of success
Such a framework is based on understanding the context of telehealth in a broader picture and together with existing challenges and opportunities help to focus on the major aspects of successful telehealth business
Summary
It is more than a decade that the advancement of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) has been used to promote the quality and speed of health care services in the form of telehealth and other health care technologies. A variety of business models and plans are used in telehealth industry [11], it seems that providing a telehealth business framework with welldefined components can help the business managers to focus on the most important issues and increase the chance of success. The CompBizMod framework included four dimensions which were value proposition, value co-creation, value transfer, and value capture [5] Using this framework, service providers can evaluate their business models and consider components that lead to competitive advantages [5]. Telehealth technology and related products can help to solve the problems associated with providing health care services and equal distribution of resources. The present study aimed to identify the key components and critical factors for developing a telehealth business framework from the experts’ perspectives
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